N = New listing appearing on list for first timeR = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks seemingly charts new way up at slot 7 this week; but I had previously left it off the charts on the mistaken belief that it was not a graphic novel. There's no way for me to go back and correct the old charts, but it's here now.

* The highest actual debut this week belongs to Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 2. I think I've had mine on pre-order for over a year now...

N = New listing appearing on list for first timeR = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* The University Effect is pretty much done, and the four Wimpy Kid volumes sit atop the list, where I suspect they will reside for quite some time.

* The highest debut belongs to the latest Fullmetal Alchemist volume at position #27. The highest manga on the list is Yotsuba&!, two places higher at #25; it continues to climb the chart as more people discover its awesomeness. Rounding out the manga is the return of The Manga Guide to Calculus.

* The second highest debut belongs to Marvel's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz adaptation, and one of their Dark Tower volumes also returns to the list. IDW score a debut on the list with a batch of former Marvel comics with the latest Classic GI Joe collection. Too bad none of those 5000 Marvel-owned characters that Disney are acquiring make the list anywhere...

* Down near the bottom of the list, the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture-starring-Bruce-Willis The Surrogates hops onto the mainstream radar. I suspect that most people seeing the movie will have no clue that it was originally a comic book.

N = New listing appearing on list for first timeR = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* Now that classes are in swing, the University Effect seems to be wearing off. This causes other books (e.g. the Wimpy Kid volumes) to slide back up into the top ten. Watchmen slides down to the #10 slot, which I believe is the lowest it has been since I started keeping track of these charts.

* Other debuts include the Spiegelman- & Mouly-edited The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics; a couple of volumes based on the Warcraft computer games; Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, a biography of Bertrand Russell; and The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation, which has been out for a year now.

* The only manga on the list is the pre-order for the latest volume of Yotsuba&!. And Marvel is absent; how long will their new Mouse-eared overlords stand for Marvel's anemic trade program?

N = New listing appearing on list for first timeR = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* Relatively calm at the top of the list, with the exception of The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb returning unexpectedly high at #7.

* Why does Maus II drop while the rest of the University Effect comics remain stable in the top ten? And why is The Complete Maus so far down at #49? Are there that many professors assigning only Part I for their students to read?

* Highest debut belongs to R. Sikoryak's Masterpiece Comics, followed closely by the second Amulet volume by Kazu Kibuishi.

* There's a mini Batman resurgence this week. The Green Lantern bubble seems to have mostly burst though, at least for the time being.

* I'm so very pleased to see that the highest charting manga this week is the newest Yotsuba&! volume, due out in just a couple of weeks!

* The only other manga to chart is a volume of Bleach, and there's no Marvel to be seen at all.